Mike Kelly (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Support) Share this | Hansard source

It is a privilege and an honour to be able to speak to the memory of Sergeant Brett Till. I pay tribute to the fine words of my colleague, the member for Cook, and thank him for his attendance at the funeral, and indeed all the members of the opposition who have accompanied us on those incredibly sad occasions—the ramp ceremonies and the funerals. It is terribly important that we do always demonstrate unity in those circumstances. As my friend has mentioned, it is important for us, as people who are responsible and who play a part in the decisions to send our service men and women and to put their families in those stressful circumstances, to fully appreciate always what it is that we are doing and what the impact of those decisions is. I know that people like the member for Cook and the member Pearce, who has accompanied me on another occasion, do feel these situations deeply. The unity that we show in those circumstances is a great tribute to the quality of the democracy that we have.

Sergeant Brett Till was a soldier of the contemporary environment that we face in terms of the threat we are confronting. If you look at Sergeant Till’s career, his time spent in the Incident Response Regiment as a combat engineer within the Chemical, Biological and Radiological Response Squadron dealt with the complex threats that we face not just in Afghanistan but globally. The types of weapons of mass destruction that can potentially be used by these heinous and moral-less persons that conduct their war against the innocents around the globe require men and women of bravery who are prepared to put their bodies on the line to deal with these sorts of threats. Brett, of course, went on to acquire great expertise in the area of explosive ordnance reconnaissance and disposal, and became a highly proficient EOD tech operator.

I do not think anybody can really appreciate the extreme bravery that is required to perform those duties; to know that you are facing death at any second—a direct confrontation, staring death in the face—from the sorts of threats in the ordnance and improvised explosive devices that these men and women deal with. The work that they do is so essential, and I am very proud to have worked very hard on this IED issue. It is the great challenge that our personnel face but it has a broader application. Certainly, the things that we reveal about the threat and our opponents through developing weapons technical intelligence about their tactics, techniques and procedures are so essential in this continuing fight. It is a game of cat and mouse, of measure and countermeasure, and it requires constant effort and courage on the part of these members to keep us on top of this threat and also to move forward the objective that we pursue in places like Afghanistan. The tasks that Brett was performing in route clearance have so many important features: ensuring that the civilians in the region can travel safely, ensuring that the economy of the region can operate with the freedom of movement along these routes and also ensuring the day-to-day safety of fellow soldiers and coalition members in the work that they do.

The damage that these improvised explosive devices do is horrific. It is true—I have seen and witnessed firsthand what can occur, and what these devices do to the human body. I have lost many friends and colleagues who suffered the results of these devices. To see young lives shattered in that way, to see them lose their limbs, faculties and indeed their lives is something that is very sobering, and also fills me with the motivation to continue to leave no stone unturned in our effort to deliver to our personnel force protection measures. We must continue to pursue the research and development of counter-IED technologies whether we are in Afghanistan or not. This is a constant, urgent demand for all of us in responsible positions relating to the Defence portfolio.

Sergeant Brett Till was in the front line of this effort. He was not only an outstanding soldier but an outstanding Australian. Reference has been made to the impact on families. It is something that I do not think is well understood; it takes you to attend these funerals and see the young children and the young wives and spouses as they try and deal with these situations. I have been incredibly impressed and overwhelmed by the fortitude of all the families that we have dealt with through these tragedies so far. Without exception they have understood the importance of the work that these members have done—the importance of the work in the global sense, too, of our continuing struggle against Islamist extremism. They have the understanding that this commitment must be maintained. It is an obligation on all of us to honour that commitment from them by continuing to do all we can to educate the Australian public as to the importance of this work and the need for this sacrifice that we call upon those members to render.

Today I particularly have in my thoughts Bree-Anna Till and the two children who will continue to live with this loss. Fortunately for Sergeant Till, it appears that his death was instantaneous and there was no suffering involved, but his family will of course bear long-term scars from this incident and it is important for us to continue to wrap around them. They are now part of the broader family that we always consider within the ADF. There will certainly be continuing contact with them from members of the unit, as I have witnessed in so many other cases. The memory of Sergeant Brett Till will live forever. His achievements and legacy will live for ever and his ongoing work will pay dividends in our efforts to counter those terrible devices and the evil, medieval and depraved minds that continue to employ them. Today I salute Sergeant Till but in particular I salute the surviving members of his family for their courage.

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